What is the world made of? How can we be happy? What happens after death? Drawing on the philosophical teachings of Epicurus, Lucretius seeks to answer these and other big questions in his masterful poem 'On the nature of things'. This book offers a selection of key passages from the poem. In addition it gives students insight into its artistic inventiveness, provides a cultural and historical frame of reference, and offers access to the Epicurean philosophy underlying the poem.